Machine for cleaning carpets.



116., 850,645. PATENTED APR, 16, 1907.

W. H. HBFFERNAN & A. E. HALL.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING GARPETSJ APPLIGATION FILED MAY 8, 1905.

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PATENTED APR. 16, 1907.

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W. H. HBFFERNAN & A. E. HALL. MACHINE FOR CLEANING CAR PETS.

APPLIGATION FILED MAYB, 1905.

| I I l I l 1 1 I l 1 A A IL A PATENTED APR. 16, 1907 Wu H. HBPPERNAN & A. E. HALL. MACHINE FOE CLEANING GARPETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. 1905.

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18m 3 [rm PATENTED APR. 16, 1907. W. H. HEFFBRNAN & A. E. HALL.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING (JARPETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. 1905.

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N0.'850,645. PATENTED APR. 16, 190"]. W. H. HEFFERNAN & A. E. HALL.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING GARPETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. 1905.

5 SHEBTS-SHEET 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT #oFFiCE.

WILLIAM H. HEFFERNAN, OF NORTH ADAMS, AND .1 MON "E. HALL, or

WILLIAMSTOWN,1MASS AOHUSETTS.-, r

MACHINE FOR CLEANING CARPETST'.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

' Patented April 16,1907.

Application filed llay 8, 1005- Serial No. 259,280. p

To'aZl whom, it may concern.-

amachine for cleaning all kinds of carpets,

rugs, and similar articles, particularly those provided with pile-surfaces and having stiff or heavy backing which makesthem liable to be injured while being cleaned. The machine embodying our invention 'isalso adapt-' ed to clean thoroughly all kinds of carpets, rugs, and similar articles and also to disinfect or steam the article during the cleaning process. The machine is rapidin its operation and is arranged so that the dirt and lint removed'from the carpet is carried ofl without injury or discomfortto the operator. I

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 -is an end elevation of a machine, embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one endmfi the machine shown in'Fig. 1. Fig; 3 is asimilar view of the other end of the ma I chine, partly in section for convenience in showing the fan and dust-chamber. Fig.4,

in means for the brush and feed rolls.

is a'detail in section showing the relation o the feedrolls, brush-rolls, and other parts. Fig.5 is'a side view of the central portion of.

the machine, showing the adjustable support- 6 -IS a sectionthrough the upper brush-r0 showing the central support therefor. Fig. 7

' is a longitudinal section on line 7, Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on line B B, Fi 5, looking in the direction of the arrows. ig.

" 9 is a vertical section on line C O,-Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

upon which the various operative arts are sup orted. The frame A-is provi ed at B wit guides or ways, in which the halved boxes 0 and 'D, which support the upper halved the adjustment trite said brush-rolls with relation to each other: These brushes or brush-rolls E and H extend the whole length of themachine and may be as long as is required to clean the. largest carpet for which the' machine is to be used. In practice we make the brush-rolls in sections, which are firmly held together longitudinally by means of collars I. (See Figsi 2 and 1%.) Where are supported at their centers or at other convery long brushes are required, thesaid rolls venient points 'in-a manner to be hereinafter described. The twofbrushes E and H are driven independently of each other and the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig.

1. Thelowerfbrush-roll H is driven by a machine, as seen in Fig. 2, while the upper brush-roll is driven by a second belt on the corresponding pulley K at the other end of the jm'ach'ine. (See Fig. 3.) The said brushes are adjustable vertically with'regard to each other inethej following manner.

adjusting -screw"L, located at'the end of the machine (see Figs. .1, and 2) and suitably supported in the franie'of themachine, is. rovided at its lower end with threads M, w 'ch engage a corresponding hole in the'box C,

and at its upper end with a bevel-gear N, which meshes with a'second bevel-gear O on the horizontal shaft I, supported on the up.

per part of the frame A of the machine. The said shaft P extends the whole length ofthe 8) at or near the middle of the brush-rolls,

this adjust' '-screw-201 being operated by the hori'zonta shaft P, as are theadjustingscrews Lat each end of the machine. This central adjusting-screw 201 (seeFig. 8) is provided with a'collar 233 and is free to rotate in ah'ole in a bracket 203 fast to the In the drawings there is indicated at A I (see Figs. 1 and 2) the frame of the. machine,

cross 'beam 244. The adi'usting-screw 201 is provided with a --beve -gear 204, which meshes with the bevel-gear 205 on the horizontal shaft.P, so that the said adjusting spondingly bracket 207, to the lower end of which is at- The upp'er'end of the ad: justing-screw 201 passes through 'a correbelt on the pulley J at the left hand'of the than the upper, we have 206. (See Figs. (Sand 7.) This hanger is made quite thin at the oint Where it asses.

between the bristles o the brush-r0v and thicker where it 'engages'the axle 277 of the brush-roll, so that asufiicient bearing-surface on the brush-roll axle is provided without separating the bristles so much that an .uncleaned streakis left on the carpet. "Bushings 207 and 2.08'are inserted in the ends of the sections of the brush-rolls at the points Where they bear againstthe hanger 206 to relieve the friction. It'will. thus be seen that when the hand-wheel Q at either ,end ofthe machine is turned by the operator the boxes supporting the-upper brush-roll are simultaneously raised or owered, according to the direction in which the said hand-wheel is turned. The lower boxes F for the lower brush-roll H are similarly adjustable, there being a longitudinal shaft R, vertical adjusting-screws S, gears T-and U, and a handwheel V provided for this purpose. The lower brush-roll is adjustably supported at or near its middle in a manner similar to that previously described in. connection with the.

302 is given a movement in unison w1th-. the

corresponding adjustingescrews Sat the ends of the machine. As we find it necessary to adjust the lower brush-roll less frequ'entl rovided a hand wheel at the left-hand en only. By the means just described'we ,are enabled to adjust the brushes E and H with relation to each other, so that theywill exert any desired amount of pressure upon the? 1 frame of the machine.

' carpet which passes between them.

As the surface of the brush-rolls is slightlyuneven and the bristles or other 'material which compose the said brush-rolls vary.

slightly in elasticity and thickness, it is found that there is an interaction between the two brush rolls on the opposite sides of the carpet, which ives to the bristles, a cembing effect and imparts to the carpet a shght vibratory movementand causes the dust and lint contained therein to i be re-. leased, so that the same may be removed by the bristles or fibers comprising the brushrolls.

H by meansoftwopairs of feed-rolls 3' and 4 at the front of the machine and '1 and 2 at gear 307 on the lower horizontal shaft R, so that-the adjusting-screw of the machine the back of'the machine. These feed-rolls are covered with some convenient material as, for instance, cord or rope-which takesa firmgrip upon the carpet capable of holding it a ainstthe pull of t e brush-roll. I

The feed-rolls 'aredriven by means of a belt 5, which passes over a pair'of pulleywheels (Sand 7; fast to the axles 8' and'9 of the front and back lower feed-rolls, respectively; The upper feed-rolls 1 and 3 are driven by means of gears10 and 11, the said gears being indicated in. the drawings by 'thein'pitch-circles, which mesh with correspondlng gears 12 and 13 on the shafts Sand 9 of the two lower feed-rolls. The belt 5 passes over a third pulley 14 on a stub-shaft 15 on thelower part of the machine, the said stub-shaftbeing driven by a pulley-wheel 16 and belt 17, which passes over the other pulley- 18 on the counter-shaft '19. This counter-shaft 19 is provided Withthree pulleys 20, 21, and 22, upon which are located an open and a crossed belt (not' shown) driven from a suitable sourceof power. The center pulley 21 of the three is fast to the counter-shaft 19 and is accordingly driven by whichever belt of the twois upon the said pulley 21', the two belts being shifted simultaneously one way'or the other by a beltshifter in the well-known manner, not necessary to .be described. ,,It will ,be seen, therefore, that means is hereby ovided by which the direction of rotation othe counter-shaft 9, and therefore of the. two pairs of feed-rolls,"

ma .be reversed by the operation of a beltshi ter when desired, v,As, the article to be cleaned varies somewhat-in thickness and as. it is desirable that a uniform ressure be applied to the carpet by thelsai feed-rolls,

'we mount the rear upper feed-roll in abox 601,'movable' vertically, and ,cause the same to be pressed downwardly by means of a Wei ht or.,series of weights 602, supported at t e end of an arm 603, fulcrumed. at 604 .to the fixed arm 605 on the-back'of the ma- .chine. The force of the weight 602 is transmitted to the upper feed-roll through the arm 1606, which 1s guided at 607 on the I A similar arrange- 'rnent of parts may be appliedto'the upper IIO -front fee d-roll, if found necessary or desirable.

i In the operation ofour machine the-edge I of the car et is inserted between the front pair of fee -rolls 3 and 4, which draw it into the machine. It then asses between the brushes and is grasped y therea'r pair of feed-rolls, the brushing taking place during-1 its movement .in this direction. When-the carpet has passed nearly .throughthe mathen drawn back-a ain toward the front of the machine.

The rush-.rollsE-and Hcon I i2 chine, the operator reverses the direction of 1 v y, rotation of the feed rolls, and the carpet is The carpet. is fed to'the brush-rolls E and time, and the carpet is therefore drag ed back against the action of the brush-r0 It is during this reverse movement of the critrpet that the most effective cleaning takes ace. 1 p In order that the carpet may pass from the feed-rolls to the brushes without any dan er of wrapping about the brushes, and thus e-. ing torn or otherwise injured, we provide finger-boards 23 and 24,'(see Fig. 4,) having thereon a series of fin ers 25 and 26, the ends of which embed or my themselves somewhat in the surface of the bristles composing the brush-roll, so that the carpet is guided to the point of contact of the said brush-rolls.

The fingers 25 and 26 u on the finger-boards 23 and 24 may be place at convenient intervals throughout the machine, their frequency being determined by the size and 'character ofthe articles to be cleaned in the machine. These fingers require to be placed much nearer to ether in a machine to be used on small or 't and flexible carpets than in machines tobe used for large and stiff carpets, because a thin flexible carpet requires'tobe supported at more-frequent intervals to prevent it being drawn intothe mechanism unevenly, and thus injured. a

In order that the dirt and-other matter're-' moved from the'carpet may be satisfactorily disposed of without injury or inconvenience to the operators, we house the working arts of the machine. The housing for. the owe]; parts of the machine is indicated at 401 and consists of sheathing of wood or other suitable material. The housing for the u per part of the machine is shown at 402 403 and consists of canvas or other suitable material supported on a light framework. and hinged to the frame of themachine at .404 and 405. At 406 is indicated .a'fan inclosedby the housing 40?, which connects with the housing of the machine just described and serves to draw the air together with the dust and other matter removed from the carpet and expel them through the exhaust-pipe 408. The opposite end'of the macihine is open-to ,shaft provi allow essfof air. By this meansthe dirt remove from the carpet is immediately driveninto the outer air and is revented from comingm contact againwitht e cleaned operator.

As it is frequently desirable that the carpet or article to be cleaned be subjected to the action of steam or a spray of some disinfecting material, we provide a lon itudinal tact with the surface of the carpet as it passes between the brush-rolls. We'are thus'enabled -to steam or disinfect the'carpet while thecleariing operation istaking place and portion of the carpet or doing injury to the are not required to spread the carpet upon a floor for the purpose of disinfecting.

What we claim is.- p r In a machine of the character s ecified, the combination of aframe, a pair 0 oppositel disposed brush-rolls acting at substantia y the same point on opposite sides of an article to be cleaned, boxes mounted in the Said frame, central supports for the said brush-.

rolls, adjusting-screws for the said boxes and central supports, gears thereon, a horizontal ed with g ears enga ing the gears on the saidadjusting-screws for the upper brush-roll, and a correspondinghorizonta'l shaft similarly provided with gears for adusting the IQWGI bI'IISlPIOIl, whereby the oxes and supports for -each brush-rol may .be' adjusted vertically and simultaneously by the rotation of'the horizontal shaft appertaining thereto..

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses. I,

WILL

1AM H-.1HEFFE RNAN.

Witnesses: v I

ARTHUR P. CARPENTER, LYMAN A. HUNT. 

